How Elections Matter: Theory and Evidence from Environmental Policy

39 Pages Posted: 9 Jul 2004 Last revised: 29 Dec 2022

See all articles by John A. List

John A. List

University of Chicago - Department of Economics

Daniel M. Sturm

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) - Faculty of Economics

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Date Written: July 2004

Abstract

In this paper we explore to what extent secondary policy issues are influenced by electoral incentives. We develop a political agency model in which a politician decides on both a frontline policy issue, such as the level of public spending, and a secondary policy issue, such as environmental policy. The model shows under which conditions the incumbent finds it worthwhile to manipulate the secondary policy to attract additional votes to his platform. We test the predictions of the model using state-level panel data on Gubernatorial environmental policy choices over the years 1960-2000. In contrast to the popular view that choices on secondary policy instruments are largely determined by lobbying, we find strong effects of electoral incentives on environmental policy.

Suggested Citation

List, John A. and Sturm, Daniel M., How Elections Matter: Theory and Evidence from Environmental Policy (July 2004). NBER Working Paper No. w10609, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=563054

John A. List (Contact Author)

University of Chicago - Department of Economics ( email )

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Daniel M. Sturm

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) - Faculty of Economics ( email )

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Munich, D-80539
Germany
+49 89 2180 1363 (Phone)
+49 89 2180 6227 (Fax)

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